The Love of the Game

Enjoyed //Coached a great basketball game yesterday.  The boys played well but we came up short on the scoreboard. We as a society focus so much on winning on competition when really the winning and the competition has little to do with the game.

Of course, we've carried these sports qualities into Life and our daily living.  We must Win, Life is a competition, You must be a Winner. This of course is a a lie. Do you win every game, do you win every championship. Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, and even the greatest Ali, lost games, lost championships during their time in the game.  The all time coach John Wooden was at UCLA for 15 years before he won his first national championship in 1964.  Today, most coaches would be long gone before getting 15 years in one place. Losing is part of the process, part of the game, perhaps a more important teacher, and maybe patience is really a virtue

 Athletes know this and accept it as part of the bargain in playing the game.  If you asked any athlete whether he could play a sport but only on losing teams or not at all,  all would say I want to PLAY. Why?  For the love of the game.  The fun, the pleasure, the JOY is in the PLAYING the game. Yes we all like to win but alas the winners are the COMPETITORS those that participate in the game. To quote, the great Teddy Roosevelt, the winners are not the critics but those that played, that ventured, that toiled, those that competed, that participated in the game.

And so it is with Life. The joy is in participating in the game, of realizing your potential, of refining and sharing your talents, of living your dream. We know what we love to do, we must do it, and in doing the joy surfaces, we are then content, fulfilled, and at peace. And when we share that joy with others, it spreads, expands, and is returned to us in greater quantity.

This is how the world and society make progress and improves.  Everyone doing what they love and sharing those talents with the universe. Art, Poetry, Film, Engineering, Music, Technology, Spirituality, Writing, Social Sciences, Government, Nature, Sports, etc. We all have gifts in the various areas of life that are to be enjoyed and shared.

When life becomes a competition, a race, it becomes dull, boring, uninspiring. Life is a dance, a symphony, where we are all invited to participate, to enjoy the beautiful dance, to enjoy the lovely song.  No winners, no losers, just willing participants in this wonderful thing called life.

With Love,

Coach K
Tom Kaufmann
tkaufmanncoaching.com